Portable, adjustable panel assemblies having fixed, adjustable or a combination of fixed and adjustable panels with associated support or bracketing are well known in the art and typically comprise a limited degree of range of motion for at least one supported panel.
Designing and assembling portable, adjustable panel assemblies using these various elements is ordinarily complicated since dimensions, load factors, code requirements, and aesthetics converge to present brackets which are labor and component intensive. Often bracketing assemblies will have many component parts and require several tools for assembly. Moreover, with current technology, bracket assemblies, particularly those providing one of more panel assemblies, require much broader ranges of adaptability than what is provided in the art, and even when a custom design is presented, packaging, shipping, installing, transporting, positioning and using the bracket assemblies are cumbersome and overly time consuming.
Various types of adjustable panel assemblies with adjustable and/or lockable hinges are used for securing bracketing components or bracketing assemblies integrally or to other external structures, and/or immobilizing and/or adjusting one component with respect to another component about a common axis. Many ready to assemble bracket assemblies utilize location dependent uprights or support members that multiply the effort needed to design and assemble the adjustable and lockable hinge assemblies and that intensify the complexity of the process. The ease of shipping, assembling, using, and maintaining these panel assemblies is at best marginal, and can vary considerably between installation environments.
Presently, most adjustable and lockable bracketing assemblies for bracketing are initially assembled or installed by the seller because of the complexity of assembling. Thus, many bracketing assemblies are handled fully or most fully assembled which presents bulky cargo that takes up considerable amount of space and is difficult to transport. These assemblies do not provide any portability or rapid adjustment or operation.
Additionally, when one part of a piece of an adjustable bracket assembly is damaged, often the entire product must be returned instead of simply replacing the damaged part. For example, when a support or pivot element for an upright bracketing assembly fails or is defective, generally the entire bracketing assembly must be disassembled and replaced.
Finally, the adjustable bracket assembly needs to be supported by adequate and aesthetically pleasing attachment components for securing one or more integral hinge elements of the panel assembly to one or more adjustable panel assemblies or portable support structures.
Further, an adjustable bracket assembly should embody adjustable pivot hinges and reversible end panels to allow for easy and quick conversion from a pass-over assembly to a self-serf assembly.
There is, accordingly, a need for a modular adjustable bracket assembly that provides a simple to assemble and adjust support elements with assemblies to adjust at least one panel, and support for at least one fixed panel.
Likewise, there is a need for an adjustable bracket assembly that provides modular attachment capabilities for adjustable lighting and/or adjustable heating fixtures.
Further there is a need for an adjustable bracket assembly that provides modular replacement components for hinge or bracketing elements of the adjustable bracket assembly.
There is also a need for an adjustable bracket assembly that provides adjustable and pivot hinge assemblies that enhance the ease of assembly or installation, rapid adjustment, and ease of operation of the adjustable bracket assembly, and allows for easy component replacement.
A further need exists for adjustable bracket assemblies that in disassemble, manufactured components can be shipped in flattened containers, thus eliminating the need for forklift equipment to receive the boxed assemblies at the end user site.